Barbosa: "I Wanted To Play In A Better Situation For Me, Which I Think I Have In TO"

I might be one of the few, but I'm excited to have Leandro here in Toronto finally and I think moving forward I hope be become's a bigger factor than some aren't giving him credit for.

Here's some of the Q&A he did with Dime Magazine:

Dime: How are you feeling about the trade to the Raptors?Leandro Barbosa: Iím happy. Itís a better situation for me, because I know that I will play more minutes than I used to in Phoenix. Iím a little bit sad because I loved Phoenix and I love the friends that I made in the organization. I will miss that. But I think everybody knows the NBA is a business, and weíre all involved in that business. Any day it can happen, and this time it happened to me.

Dime: Did you know there was a trade in the works?LB: Yeah, I knew I was going to get traded. I asked for a trade after the season. I told Phoenix I wanted to play in a better situation for me, which I think I have in Toronto. I didnít get that chance to play a lot in Phoenix, so I wanted to go to a different team. The first team that came was Toronto, and I have a good relationship with Bryan Colangelo, so everything worked out.

Dime: What is your role going to be with the Raptors?LB: I donít know what my role or what position Iím going to play yet, but Iím going to do the best I can and help my team win.

Dime: Before the trade, did you have any friends on the Raptors?LB: Oh yeah. I know (Andrea) Bargnani, I know (Jose) Calderon. All the international players, we all know each other because we play against each other a lot in tournaments.

Given his personality and attitude, I really think Barbosa will fill the role of Calderon in terms of keeping international and US players together in the team. He seems to be a really nice spirited guy, kind of Anthony Parker like.

So I think his off-court role in the locker room will be just as important as his on-court performance in this coming season.

I expect Barbosa to be a huge part of our bench. He's a proven scorer and, when healthy, his shooting really stretches the floor for the rest of the team. I imagine Davis/Johnson/Kleiza will all benefit from Barbosa being on the floor.

Barbosa should be the 6th man extraordinaire off the bench in TO. Folks, who haven't really seen him play, are going to be surprised by his defense as his long arms cause steals, deflections on the regular.

I dont think the big advantage here is his playing. I think the best thing he brings to his team is his professionalism and being a seasoned player. Like alvin williams says "The leader of a team dosnt have to be the best player." I dont think he will be the only "leader", but he will be a very good example for the young guys.

Well then it's a good thing there's training camp and Jay Triano between Barbosa and the starting SG. We have two PGs that are poor defensively, and you want to stick an undersized PG at the 2 spot who's also not known for defending? Let me guess, we'll just blame the defense on Bargnani when that lineup is on the floor since he's supposed to be the anchor.

Barbosa Interview: "I knew I was going to get traded. I asked for a trade"

Dime: How are you feeling about the trade to the Raptors?Leandro Barbosa: I’m happy. It’s a better situation for me, because I know that I will play more minutes than I used to in Phoenix. I’m a little bit sad because I loved Phoenix and I love the friends that I made in the organization. I will miss that. But I think everybody knows the NBA is a business, and we’re all involved in that business. Any day it can happen, and this time it happened to me.

Dime: Did you know there was a trade in the works?LB: Yeah, I knew I was going to get traded. I asked for a trade after the season. I told Phoenix I wanted to play in a better situation for me, which I think I have in Toronto. I didn’t get that chance to play a lot in Phoenix, so I wanted to go to a different team. The first team that came was Toronto, and I have a good relationship with Bryan Colangelo, so everything worked out.

Dime: What is your role going to be with the Raptors?LB: I don’t know what my role or what position I’m going to play yet, but I’m going to do the best I can and help my team win.

Dime: Before the trade, did you have any friends on the Raptors?LB: Oh yeah. I know (Andrea) Bargnani, I know (Jose) Calderon. All the international players, we all know each other because we play against each other a lot in tournaments.

Dime: How is Team Brazil looking for the World Championship?LB: We’re looking good. A couple of players are not healthy right now, but they will be OK. We have really good chemistry. Every country is on a mission in the World Championship, and we’re on a mission. I’m hoping for good results.

Dime: Brazil has three NBA big men in Nene, Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao. With so many other big men out of the tournament — Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, guys like that — how will that help you guys?LB: It will be an advantage. But FIBA is a totally different game, totally different tournament than the NBA. The rules, the ball, everything changes. It’s not like the NBA. So we’ll see what happens, but we do have good size and good players.

Never knew he demanded a trade out of Phoenix. Looks like he did it the right way by keeping it quiet because he didn't kill the team's leverage and thus allowed for more real possibilities to get out.

I think Barbosa could very well turn out to a one season rent a guard.

DeRozan is only going to get better. If Kleiza and Weems are able to hold down the SF slot where are Barbosa's minutes going to come from?

He is making $7 million. I don't think he is worth more than the MLE which in 10-11 will be around $5.7 million or so. How much of a commitment will the Raptors be willing to make to retain a player probably past their prime with a serious recent health problem?

Barbosa wants more minutes but given his short height and light weight he is not really a good defender at the #2 against taller and stronger SGs. I think he could turn out to be a slightly better version of Wright. I can't see him getting over 20 mpg unless their is a major injury to to one of the wing players.

The Raptors may even use Barbosa and his $7 million expiring contract along with Reggie, Banks and or part of the TPE to make a trade before the trade deadline. Or else they may just let Barbosa, Evans and Banks walk come July 1st. That would be about $17 million off of the team's salary.

What the Raptors need are not older undersized guards or almost $10 million invested in Evans and Banks. What they need are to stockpile some draft lottery picks or trade for young athletic players. This way they can draft more young talented athletic guys to go with the young, athletic and talented core which now is up to six players if you count Alabi and other young athletic and talented players that they acquire via more trades.